


What brothers do

by Hiccstridlover14



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Fever, Gen, Hugs, Hurt/Comfort, Keith whump, Nightmares, Sick Fic, Vomiting, Whump, broganes, emeto, keith's second name is akira, sick keith
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-16
Updated: 2019-02-16
Packaged: 2019-10-29 15:16:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,740
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17810426
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hiccstridlover14/pseuds/Hiccstridlover14
Summary: Keith gets sick, Shiro takes care of him and at some point they realise that galransare a bit like cats. Fluff ensues.Little bit of angst towards the end. Shocking, I knowNo, I do not know how to make summariesWarning: emeto





	What brothers do

**Author's Note:**

> I??????? Wrote something?????? In less than a week??????  
> WHATTTTTT?????  
> This is basically my way of ending my thirst for sick/hurt Keith. Also, I love the broganes and i can't stop writing about them. If you enjoy this, I have another story which also brogane fluff. Enjoy!

When he saw how Keith looked when he entered the lunge, alarm bells set off in his brain. He had to restrain himself from running to his little brother and checking up on him. Instead, he met his eyes, and have him a look “Are you okay?”

Keith briefly looked at the other three paladins significantly “not here”

Shiro understood perfectly. 

“Hunk?” Said boy turned to look at him “weren’t you telling me before that you had found a way to connect your video game to the castle?” As he said this, he subtly moved his head towards Keith’s direction. 

Hunk, angel he was, glanced at Keith and nodded subtly at Shiro.  
“You’re right! Oh my god, guys I forgot”

“Then what are we waiting for? Let’s go!” Lance said, getting to his feet. 

Shiro couldn’t be sure, but he suspected that Lance had also gotten the message. The three of them left the lunge chatting loudly as they headed towards Pidge’s room, which was the farthest one away from Keith’s (this wasn’t planned in any way, of course). 

Shiro walked towards Keith, studying him on the way.  
His black hair was plastered to his forehead with sweat, and his pale complexion made the bags underneath his eyes more prominent.  
When he was a step away from the boy, who was looking at the floor, his posture too tense, he said, his voice soft 

“They’re gone” 

Keith looked up, his eyes glassy with an obvious fever, and sighed in relief as his whole posture slumped. He closed the distance between them by simply stepping forwards and resting his forehead on Shiro’s broad chest. He was shivering slightly. 

Shiro sighed and gently wrapped his arms around the smaller boy, rubbing circles on his back.

“What hurts?”

“Everything” Keith mumbled into his vest. 

“Something specific?” 

He was quiet for a moment, before he looked up in a fright, his cheeks had gone from white to a sickly green. He ran out of the room, stumbling in his haste to get to the bathroom.  
Shiro was right behind him, muttering a curse on the way.  
Keith fell to his knees in front of the toilet, his whole body trembling with wet hiccups and belches. Shiro kneeled behind him, one hand rubbing comforting circles on the young boy’s back and the other going to grab his long hair. 

“Let it out, Keith” he whispered. And he did. A torrent of half digested food fell into the toilet with more force than was actually necessary.  
Shiro looked away, still rubbing circles on Keith’s back.  
Once he could breathe again, he let out a small whimper. As soon as he had, his cheeks gained a pink hue and he coughed, trying to cover up the pitiful sound that had escaped his mouth. 

“It’s fine, Keith” Shiro’s voice was so soft and understanding, his resolve wavered, and tears sprung up to his eyes.  
He hated being sick.  
The feeling of being out of control and being vulnerable was something he couldn’t stand and Shiro knew this.

He leaned against his older brother, panting. When his stomach churned painfully again, he let out a low groan. Saliva pooled in his mouth again, and he dived for the toilet again.  
As he vomited, Shiro noticed the presence of someone else in the bathroom. Lance was standing at the door, a glass of water in his hand.

“He okay?” He mouthed, leaving the glass on the sink. Shiro made a face and shrugged. He pointed with his head to the glass “thank you” 

Lance smiled and left the room, probably to update the others.  
Keith stopped a few seconds later after Lance’s departure and lay his forehead on the toilet seat, panting and swallowing.

“Better?” Shiro asked, handing him a towel. Keith wiped his mouth

“Not really” 

“Here, switch” he handed him the glass of water and took the dirty towel. Keith didn’t question where the glass had come from, just took it gratefully and rinsed his mouth.  
He swallowed thickly when his stomach churned again and he lay his hand protectively on his stomach.

“God this sucks” he said, his voice strained.

“I know, buddy” he rubbed Keith’s shoulders, trying to soothe the hurting paladin.

“Think you can make it to your bedroom?” 

Just then, Keith squeezed his eyes shut and dived for the toilet once more. This time, Shiro was actually concerned. Keith wasn’t actually vomiting now, he was just heaving drily, his stomach clenching painfully. When he finally stopped, Shiro was surprised to find tears in Keith’s feverish eyes. 

Without a word, Shiro brough the young paladin closer, enveloping him in a hug. 

“I’m fine” Keith said into Shiro’s vest, his voice hoarse. Shiro hummed 

“I know you are”

Keith pulled him a bit closer, breathing in the calming scent that Shiro emanated.  
Shiro started running his fingers through his hair, scratching his scalp. That did it.  
A sound, not unlike a purr, escaped from his throat, lasting for a few seconds.  
Shiro chuckled 

“I can’t believe you just purred”

“I don’t purr”

“You just did”

“That wasn’t a purr” 

“Of course it wasn’t” Shiro’s voice was gleeful “But I guess” his voice turned thoughtful “the galra are a bit like cats, aren’t they?”

“I’m not a cat, Shiro”

“You’re half cat” 

“Oh shut up” he whined, burying his face in his brother’s shoulder. 

The head scratching continued, almost making him purr in delight again. 

“You feeling good enough to get back to your room?”

Keith thought about it for a second, and then nodded.  
They stood up, Keith somewhat shakily, and they made their way towards Keith’s room. 

Once they were there, Keith changed into more comfortable clothes and slumped onto the bed, groaning.  
Shiro left a waste bin at the foot of the bed and sat down, rubbing Keith’s shoulders comfortingly. 

“Sleep well, kitten” the hint of amusement in his voice almost made Keith smile. Almost

“I’m not a kitten” Keith mumbled into his pillow. He turned his head to glare at Shiro as he chuckled 

“Seriously though, I haven’t heard you purr in a very long time”

Keith scoffed  
“When have you ever heard me purr?”

“How many times have you fallen asleep on my couch back on the Garrison?”

At Keith’s confused look, Shiro chuckled again 

“The first time you purred because I started scratching your head in your sleep I almost woke you up with my laughter” his voice was gleeful as he watched Keith blush and hide his face in the pillow again

“Oh, and when Adam first heard it” he laughed “his face was priceless” he had a small smile in his face as he said this, remembering all the afternoons spent with Keith and Adam, carefree and happy. 

“I miss Adam” Keith mumbled, already half asleep. Shiro smiled sadly and run his fingers through Keith’s hair once more 

“I miss him too, buddy” he stood up, attempting to leave. Immediately, Keith grabbed his arm and whined. Shiro looked at him, surprised. 

“Stay” Keith’s voice was hoarse and pleading, and Shiro’s eyes softened 

“Okay” 

So Shiro stayed, sitting upright on the bed with his back resting against the wall, letting Keith rest his head on his lap.

“Thanks, Takashi” Shiro’s eyes widened as he looked at Keith. It had been a long time since anyone had called him Takashi. He smiled at the boy that was like his brother 

“You’re welcome, Akira” 

He saw Keith smile as he buried his face into his abdomen, wrapping his arms around his waist.  
The both of them fell asleep in a matter of minutes. 

 

Shiro woke up when he felt Keith struggle. Keith had rolled out of his lap, and now lay next to him, struggling against something he couldn’t see. 

It was dark, so Shiro couldn’t actually see Keith. He lit up a lamp that was standing next to Keith’s bed, and under it’s soft glow, he saw how Keith was struggling against the sheets, a frown on his sweaty, pale face. Shiro didn’t dare touch him in case he lashed out, but he would bet his other arm that the fever had risen. 

“Keith, It’s alright” he positioned himself right next to Keith’s ear, speaking softly 

“You’re in the castle of lions, it’s okay, I’m here” he continued repeating the words, again and again, until the younger boy calmed down. Once he did, Keith didn’t open his eyes, but he whispered 

“Shiro?” His voice broke in mid word. 

“You’re okay Keith” he said as he picked up the smaller boy into his arms “We’re Okay”

Keith didn’t even try to insist he was okay this time. He just wrapped his arms around Shiro’s neck and buried his face into his broad shoulder, his form shaking with sobs. He was covered in sweat, but his skin was still burning with a fever.  
After a few minutes, Keith mumbled angrily

“Can’t we have one night in which neither of us have fucking nightmares?”  
Although he sounded angry, he didn’t pull away 

“Maybe someday, kiddo” 

Keith huffed in annoyance. Then his voice softened  
“I’m sorry I woke you up”

“It’s alright” Shiro said as he lowered himself (and Keith) so that they were both lying down on the mattress “you know I get nightmares too, and you help me through them” 

“We’re messed up” Keith sounded miserable, and he still hadn’t looked up

“Maybe a little” Shiro agreed “it’s okay though, we have each other”

Keith didn’t respond, just hugged him tighter. On a good day, he would have snorted and made fun of Shiro for the cheesy comment. Today was not a good day. 

“Let’s try to get some sleep, kiddo. You’ll feel better in the morning”

 

He didn’t, actually. For the next three days, Keith spent his time either in his bed or next to the toilet, puking his guts out.

Shiro barely left his side for those three, agonizing days. 

Although neither of them ever saw them, they kept finding stuff from Pidge, Lance and Hunk. A glass of water on the bathroom cabinet with a few altean pills, a machine that looked like a CD player that played sounds from earth, like waves crashing on the beach, or the a rustling of the trees…

For those three days, they protected each other from the nightmares that hunted their dreams. 

Because that’s what brothers do, they take care of each other.

**Author's Note:**

> Reviews give me life. Just leaving this here...


End file.
